London Knights win back-to-back OHL Championships - Game 5 Recap: Oshawa 2 London 5 - OHL Overtime - The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Armchair GM Sports Network.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
This is Jim Joker's Voice of the Cakes to Fron. Next,
you're listening to OHL Overtime and in depth interview show
highlighting the players, coaches and broadcasters from around the Ontario
Hockey League to make the league so great, as well
as in person coverage of events such as the OHL Playoffs,
OHL Championship Series, OHL Combine and more exclusively on the

(00:46):
Armchair GM Sports Network. Here's your program host, Brandon Computer.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Welcome into another episode of OHL Overtime right here on
the armshair GM Sports Network. In our Game five postgame
recap for the OHL Championship between the London Knights and
the Oshawa Generals, the London Knights back to back Jay
Ross Robertson Cup recipients after a five to two victory
in Game five on home ice at Canada Life Place
in front of us sold out crowd of nine sixty

(01:19):
one where this was the announced attendants last night at
Canada Life Place in London. Brandon Caputo and Colin Ward
from the OHL and sixty podcast gonna break this one
down for you as well. We're gonna have interviews from
different representatives of the London Knights, including assistant GM Rob Simpson,
defenseman Sam Dickinson, Captain Denver Barkie with that said call
in interesting game last night, recording the next morning, the

(01:41):
fallout of it, and obviously London being able to win
on home ice was big because of the last five
trophies they've won have been on the road. So I know,
you know, growing up going to Knight's games and being
in that building yourself as a fan as a young boy,
you know, how excited were you to kind of see
how it all played out last night and London being
able to close it out in five.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
I thought that kind of went the way the game
wanted to go for the London Knights. I think that's
a team they preach this when they get up in
late in the third, I mean, they're a team that
preaches its lockdown defense. And once they got up one
in the third, at the end of the second there
and E're up one, Seneca scores are goal late and
you don't know how it'll go, but they start the
period off the way they would want it, and they
closed the game out the way they typically do. What

(02:26):
a performance. Last night's game was carbon copy of what
they had of everything they did successfully throughout the whole
series to be successful in that given day, they did
everything right. There was a couple of plays. I know
we'll probably talk about the O'Reilly Torrens play. I thought
it looked like two outfielders colliding for a ball in
center right center field. That's kind of what it looked like.

(02:48):
But other people had different opinions on that. Andy, That's
the beauty of sports. I think that watching the game,
the way London controls the pocket. I know Austaua controlled
the play yesterday, and I think the way they played,
they don't have a lot of regrets. I think Brad
Malone post game, the way Oshwa's been all season, I
don't think they have a lot of regrets. In the game,

(03:09):
Jacob Austro made about six to seven big saves. We
talked the night before Brandon about how he's got to
make safe. He has to make sixth grade A saves
to have a chance. He did make those saves. He
actually all on the land and sim go home, and
that would have been like the nicest save of the year.
He was like an inch away and I know we're
not live. He was like an inch away from being
able to stop that puck and who knows what would

(03:31):
have happened, right, But at the end of the day,
oswaky everything they had. London's a deep team, They're a
physical team, they have every element And we talked about
this before the series, when we talked about this throughout
the playoff run. The London Knights have every single element
to their game and absolute deserving champion. I cannot wait
to see them represent the OHL at the Memorial Cup.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean the way that they were able to
score goals in this series, calling against a general's team
that could be high powered them. But it just seemed like,
and we talked about this coming in that Oshawa had
such a tough task in the first three rounds to
get to this point against London. London with three sweeps
under their belts, you know, were well rested for this
championship series. We talked about Oshawa a tough for round one,

(04:17):
you know, four or five matchup against Brampton, then obviously
a tough matchup against Branford, going into Barry, being able
to sweep the Barry Colts in the East Final. But
it just seemed like, you know, some of the maybe
the top end players. And we always hear about it
after the series is over, what guys were playing through
and this and that. But it just seemed like the
Generals gave everything they had and emptied the tank, you know,

(04:38):
with whatever that they that they could against this London
Night's team. But at the end they were able to
take a game, which at least, you know, they can
have some consolation in which I know they're not gonna
nobody's gonna celebrate winning one game after being swept the
year before. But there were stretches in these games calling
where you could say that the Generals played a solid
twenty or thirty minutes, but they couldn't just put together
or keep London under wraps for three Peers.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Dent by any of the stat line right shots on
goal in the first period eight four London, but after
that they really turned it on. Twelve to two in
the second, or twelve to ten in the second favorite Oshwall.
The shots on goal third period eighteen to seven Oshawa.
As we expect their seasons on the line, they gotta
have momentum, they gotta push there to try to tie
the game up. They gave everything they had. I thought
they had a really good elimination game. They probably win

(05:22):
against any team but the London Nights in the Western Conference.
If they play a game like that, they beat Wins
or they beat Kitchener, they don't beat London Nights. That's
how good London is. I truly thought going into the series,
and we talked about this for every people that go
back to our preview show about it. We both met.
We all mentioned it's one of those series where these
are the two best teams, but you can tell still

(05:44):
London was an inch above. London was above and one
win better than last year for Oshawa in the final,
but you can see the differences in play. I thought
that watching the game, especially the third period, Oshawa was
really good. Just sometimes it's not meant to be right
and it sucks. That's the hard part about coming to
reality when you lose. That's why it builds character, and

(06:04):
that's why it sucks to lose, because you can play
the best game and still not get the result you want.
And sometimes when you look back at it, that's the
beauty sport. I know playing I've lost a lot of
bad games, but when you lose those games, you have
the heartbreak. It makes you stronger and it's tough to
go through, but you get hungry. You see the lot
of Knights, it felt like this year they're they're destined
to go to the Memorial Cup. Even their celebration last
night didn't feel like a normal celebration of the Jay Ross.

(06:26):
It felt like, in the back of our heads, we
know we got Ramuski coming up, and that's where our
goal was coming into the season. All the quotes, it
was that Oshwa gave everything we had. Though we talked
about it the day before, right, there's stars had to
be stars. Well, Gibson and Seneca scored the goals like
but then again two too. If they if Richie scores

(06:46):
to Sene Seneca scores two, what's the result. How do
we feel about the game? And you know, it just
wasn't better than the Knight's Stars and they game it
to all they had. You can't fault anyone for the
for the defeat. They've played a heck of a game.
Jacob Astro I thought that was the best game of
the series. I know in the game they won, he
had a lot of big saves, but even throughout the series,

(07:09):
even at the game they won, it was multiple games,
we had a lot of big saves, but I thought
last night he made I think six seven big saves
that he had to make that should have been goals.
And he still made this, especially in the third period.
I know London only had seven shots in the third period,
but it felt like, man, so we're kind of emptying
that goal in the goal, there's two, So there's five saves.

(07:29):
Those are the toughest five saves I may have solved.
When you look back at it, you think about the
saves he had to make. You're looking at about the
one on Halton off the post. Puck comes back. A
lot of goalies when the puck hits supposed like, ah, crap,
I just got beat right and then the puck comes
right back to him. You get a ricks shot right
back at You get job by Astron to be in
position on that shot to make them bad safe because
those are tough saves to make. Those are very hard

(07:51):
saves to make, and I and like, so there's four.
It was the hardest. I think that was the hardest
five stop period you could have. I thought, I thought
Jacob Oscar was really good, like he always is. Uh,
it's tough to see his career end the ritual I'm
a big fan of before the periods. I know he
saw it last night, Brandon. It's something with the jump.

(08:13):
Maybe new pole volding high jump at the Olympics the
next summer Olympics. He may be a contestant to represent
Canada for those events because he definitely got the high
jump down. Uh. It's definitely cool to see him gonna
miss that. What a what a career Jacob Oscer had.
They're always right, Luke Torrance. What Dave All brought to
the table has been incredible for Oshawa. I mean, they've

(08:35):
done a lot of winning and they went through a
lot of hard times in Oshawa and the you know
they have to be on the good ends as well,
but definitely a tough one. I think looking back at it, Oshawa,
you gotta be damn proud of the way you played
last night. He gave everything you had. Honestly, when you
look back at it analytically, they probably should have won
four games in the series. They came back in the

(08:55):
third period. They started off the game really good in
Game three in Oshawa where it was like ten nothing.
The shots problem is I thought they their forwards were
lazy getting back and given up too many odd man
rushes in coverage. They probably could have won four games
in the series analytically. But that's why for those old
school fans, they're gonna love this. Analytics don't mean crap

(09:16):
right like it means nothing. So it's definitely tough one.
But you played well and you probably deserved better fate. Yeah,
Jacob Ooster.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
I think it was the quality of saves, especially in
that third period, rather than the quantity. As you mentioned,
there was a couple there that even the Samuel Riley
when he went to the backhand and was able to
put his glove between his legs to stop the puck
from going in five hole, that was the big one
for Yeah. Laying down, Yeah, laying down. That was a
real tough one. But Jacob Osterer gave everything you had.
Although London only had twenty five shots, like you mentioned,

(09:46):
probably twenty of them were at least great a scoring
chances for the London Knights in this game. You talked
about it, you know, all series and basically all playoff
long calling on the OHL and sixty where you had
Oshawa uh going to the oyshel Championship from round one,
you had them beating you know, beating Branford and Barry

(10:07):
as well. Like, what did you see in this Oshawa
team that gave you so much belief that they could,
you know, get to this point. And obviously things didn't
work out for them in the in the West or
in the old Championship. Back to back Bobby or trophies.
I know that's not going to be something that people
look at as a you know, a complete win. But
you know, coming out of the East two years in
a row was not easy to do. And now we'll

(10:28):
have to see kind of how they recoup some of
these draft picks. But uh, you know, what did you
you you had Oshawa getting to this point, So how
do you feel about it?

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Man? I think they I think they went to where
there was supposed to be last three out of four
years I've been get on the finals predictions some year
one Hamilton didn't have Peterborough, London, London. But I think
that with the way Oshawa played in the firepower they
have and they build off last year's performance and the
hunger they had similar to like London has for the

(10:57):
Memorial Cup, Osawa had for the Ohl Final. That's why
I think that when you're hungry. And when you're in
a room, man, and when you have goals, when you
have goals like for the podcast, for the network, when
you have goals, and sometimes if you come up short,
the next time you set a goal, it's you feel
even more hungrier in your stomach to get that done.

(11:18):
And that's why you get that done. That's why you
have the success. And I think that that's why with
Oshawa had so much confidence because I knew they were
gonna go all in, that they had that core there.
In my opinion, they had the two best players in
the league, Richie and Seneca on one team after Seneca
is getting drafted second third overall by Anahein, and I
mean I'm not surprised he went third overall. I mean,

(11:40):
I hope people don't take this bias, but I also
believe that Jacobrien's gonna be on the top five this
year with the way. I mean, I see him every day,
but for what he brings to the table. I saw
Mason mc tavish every day too for a little bit
too was in a year. But I think that Oshawa
had every single piece to do it. I think they
had all the firepower in the world a good team.

(12:00):
They went out and they acquired the assets they need
to at they need to get to put them over
the top. It wasn't enough to win the Jay Ross.
I don't know, looking back at it. It's tough, right
when you have no picks and you don't win. You
can win all the conference, you can win all the
division banners you want. But if you don't win, if
you don't win the big one, the Jay Ross, you
still come up short, right, And and that's the reality

(12:21):
of the business. Only one team can win out of
twenty and more often than not nowadays it feels like
a lond of Knights in the last three out of
five years. I mean that it's been a London of
Knights in the finals. That is to back to back now.
But I think that with the way they play the
game in Oshawa, they had all the firepower in the world.
They shoot the score, they're aggressive around the net. That

(12:43):
I just I really like their team. One of the
best best goals in the in the league coming into
the season, Jacob Aster, and you know you can win
you games individually in the playoffs, I thought that the
one thing with Oshawa it was interesting with the coaching change.
Obviously at the being in a CE you had some
disagreements and then they get a players coach like Malone
and the players love them alone. Theoshawa generals love Malone,

(13:06):
and I mean seeing them eight times this year with Branford,
you get to know them pretty well. You get to
know their staff pretty well, and I mean Malone, you
can see that. You could see the adjustment right Like
the beginning of the year. It wasn't the greatest, like
they had success, but it wasn't the way you would
want it to be, like playing the right way. But

(13:27):
in the playoffs, man later on in the year when
they had to play a big game, they played a
big game. And that's what the most impressive part of
what Oshawa is. They have that swagger and I don't know,
there's something about Oshwa. They're hard to play against. And
it went out and let's be honest to the deadline.
They acquired. They acquired Andrew Gibson. Andrew Gibson, you love
to have them on your team. He plays on that line.
He could cross the line sometimes. I think there's scenarios

(13:51):
that Branford fans listening to this and know about I
won't get into that. Opinions are what they are. I
think that when I watch them at the deadline, when
you get Gibson, when you go out and you sign
ang the commitment, when you get Noah Powell, who, by
the way, the Ohio States I have a Buckeye shared
on today but accidental, the first one on my clothing pile.

(14:13):
But I think that when you get all the pieces
like that for not a lot of picks, it gave
you that opportunity to get the finals and the loaded East.
That's what made their deadline so well, that's what gave
them the opportunity to be competitive because you think about
what Branton gave up, right, but what signing, what free
agents signing? Did Branton sign? It was that's too heart
and I mean rightly. So commitments are what they are

(14:35):
nowadays with the ncuble a crap. Oh yeah, I just
said that out loud. My opinions however, they are. But
I think that with the way the deadline went, you
get those free signings, and that's I think it's kind
of a carbon copy. I think they kind of set
the standard. London did it too, right. You get Montgomery
to commit, you sign femus, you sign who you sign,

(14:56):
I think, and you get those opportunities, you have to
do that. And I think that this offseason the OHL
it's gonna be a set of standard from what Oshawa
did Roger Hunt with going out and signing Noah Powell.
Getting those guys to commit is huge. And now that's
the modern day where if you want to load up,
you can load up easier now with those who not
give out the picks. I expect there to be a
lot of teams that would do that and copy what

(15:16):
the Generals did. I think these really set the standard
for what you have to do in the offseason in
modern day OHL hockey now. And yeah it's a lot
more money, but it's a less lot less picks, right,
So there's pros and cons to it. And I can't
I can't stay enough like congratulations to the Generals because
I know they didn't win. Right now, you don't want
to hear congratulations. We lost, and it sucks to lose.

(15:39):
But I think that everything they brought to the table,
I mean, if it wasn't for the One of Nights
being an absolute wagon, they're by far the best team
in the Entail Hockey League and I just think that
everything they did. They had a really good year and
they played with swagger and going in it draws to
your right away of hey, this team could be something special.
And let's be honest to crapshoot at the beginning of
the year, who we pick other than London? London and

(16:01):
always Fields are gonna be the conference finals? So do
they win that series? And who do they acquire the deadline? Right? Oshwa,
I thought coming into it had a really good shot,
and they played with that swagger and they played with intensity,
and it could have went ay or easy. It could
have went on the flip side, right when you bring
a new coach and you bring another coach in Mario
Pouliott like they did right before the playoffs, it could

(16:23):
have went south real quick. Guys could have like Callum
Richiets traded the Islanders. You know how easy that wout
have win for Callum Richie. Just be like, hey, I
could play two games the NHL this year like if
our season ended in the second round our first round like,
and they didn't. They played. They showed the character that
they have in Oshawa, and I was impressed by them.
They showed a lot they really did.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
Let's get into the goal summary a little bit. Andrew
Gibson got them on the board at the six fifty
seven mark of the first period. And Andrew Gibson, as
you mentioned, the guy that they acquired at the deadline
from Sue Greyhound's only nine goals all regular season, he
had eight in the playoffs, including four in the finals. So, uh,
the now Nashville predit prospect that definitely showed out, you know,
on the biggest stage for the Oshawa Generals and you know,

(17:05):
the minus a couple of questionable hits, I thought he
was very valuable, one of the most valuable players for
the Generals on the on the back, the back end.
And then we saw Casper Halton in fourteenth goal of
the playoffs from Sam Dickinson and Jacob Julian right at
the end of the period. That was just a thing
of beauty. It was a weird play because Ostro swiped
the puck into the corner to keep the play like,

(17:26):
to keep the play going. He probably could have, you know,
got it blown down for a whistle, but then Julian
was able to to kind of get that puck off
a nermy off the off the wall find Dickinson who
just what an unbelievable pass over to Halton and in
the blue paint for his fourteenth goal of the playoffs.
And with twenty seconds left in the period, you're Ashwall.
You're thinking, Okay, we're gonna go to the room with

(17:46):
the lead in London and boom, all of a sudden,
London evens it up right before the buzzer.

Speaker 3 (17:51):
Yeah, you know that's those goals landed a period hurt.
Those are frustrating, they're they definitely get on your areas,
right And I think it's more mental than physical. Well,
it definitely is, because you start to think about it
and everyone talks about it. It's like not gonna lose
a game. You're not out of a seriously, you lose
a game at home. It's like that saying and the
scoring a goal late in a period. But yeah, looking

(18:12):
back at it, you probably want to cover that. If
you're astar. It all starts with the four check. Jacob
Julian hard on the puck. That's what London is. Jacob
Julian's has such an underrated He doesn't get the Roses
that the Dickinson's, the Halton and the Cowens get. But man,
he's an important part of the team. Land and sim
gets so much attention because the way he plays on
an edge and he can play on that line, but man,

(18:32):
Jacob Julian, quiet responsible center. The way he plays the
game is how you want a professional hockey player. He's
gotta he's got it. He's gonna get an engineering degree
at Western while playing in the OHL. It should. That
just shows everything about the way he is as a person.
He's a smart kid, plays a game the right way.
That's how that goal starts. Right, You're hard on the puck.
You get the puck, you give it to one of
the you give it to the best defenseman in the league.

(18:52):
And Sam Dickinson voted on and Casper Alton does his thing.
It's textbook. If I'm Jacob Julian and I played roll
on a line, I gotta get the pucks. I gotta
get him to my guy, I gotta get into my teammates.
Who the stars You put the puck in the net
that make plays. That's what he That's what he did.
It all starts with Jacob Julian on the puck. There,
you get the puck to Sam Dickinson went in doubt
being a red wing fan. It was always trade of

(19:13):
young Defenson coming up in the Red Wings. It was
always passed the puck to Palbaldatsuk, you'll get out of problems.
It's like pass the puck to Patrick Kane, passed up
puck to Citney Crosby, and I think that that's like
Jacob Jullian right, passa pack to sam Dickinson. Good things happen.
Big goal, huge goal for the.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Knights, and Jesse Nurmy underrated player, a guy that just
does the hard work.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
He's an Islander one man. He's an Islanders tight player.

Speaker 1 (19:35):
He's gonna fit in perfectly with them, you know, not
not allowed player, does all the little things right. And
you know the Islanders are definitely gonna be excited about
Jesse Nurmy going forward. The Knights take the lead in
the second period. Cowen creating some space, finds Dickinson at
the point, fired it in the traffic and Samuel Riley,
I don't know if it went off his stick or something,
but it went off him and on the way in.
So the Edmonton Oilers prospect with his seventh goal of

(19:56):
the playoffs from Dickinson and Cowen to give London the lead.
And shortly well a couple of minutes after that, they're
able to extend the lead as Casper Halton and on
the rebound off the O'Reilly shot coming down the right wing,
a huge rebound in Halton and just buries it for
his fifteenth goal of the playoffs and ninth goal of
the of the finals. Just an incredible run here for

(20:19):
Casper Halton.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
In eight and eight periods at the time, and you've.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Been calling for him to be the the the Finals MVP,
and I think last night's performance really sealed it for
him over his teammate at Easton Cowen and we.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
Talked about that that what stars want to win a championship.
That's what the game, That's what elimination games come down
to in the ohl finals, what stars want to win
a championship. And Casper Halton stuffed up. I think I
wrote voting for him for MVP just because the way
I got scored on all the time. You see the
forwards right, no way, you get embarrassed. That's why I

(20:55):
mean I think that Casper, with his size, like I've
been saying it before, I would love to give this
but speed just Tad quicker. He's always been critic so
he can drive, So he can drive the line a
little bit longer, because I would love to see him
be that power guy going to the net, because if
he could skate with the puck a little bit more
downhill man, with that size and strength, you're not knocking

(21:15):
him off the puck in the next level even And
I think that the way Casper played, I mean, incredible effort.
Everything you needed from your starts last night he delivered,
and credit to Casper. It was really cool to see
his family. I think it was one of the best
post games I've ever saw a family that was really
cool for imports and I know I don't want to

(21:36):
get to in the Bulldogs stories, but it's more of
an import story. And last season, Thomas Hamer never saw
his family since he left from check You had to
come to Canada for training camp with the Kitchen Rangers
last year. At the time, he never saw his family
until the World Juniors and then after the World Juniors,
but about two weeks later, that's when his parents were

(21:58):
his mum was actually gonna come over to watch him play,
and then he got hurt the game before his mom
or rot the day of his mom arriving his parents.
His mom was gonna be at the next game, and
he he got hurt the game before, which is too bad.
But it's so rare to be able to come to
North America and see your kids. So from Finland they
get a flight to come to Canada and to be
able to go to London and to see your kid play.
And that was probably the first time all season they

(22:20):
got to see him play in London. And I think
the reaction said it all. That's the Beast party without
the league, right. And then when you see a team win,
it's so cool to see reactions. It's also cool to
see the losing team's reactions, see how they react to it.
And I think that when I saw halt and man,
that's cool. It's hard not to get goosebumps thinking about it.
Like you know, like when you see you know, you
achieve something. And then you come to North America and

(22:40):
you see him win the MVP, and you see the
mother's reactions, you see his dad's reactions, she his siblings.
I think I assume the siblings reaction, that's pretty cool
to see. And I think that's one of the best
parts about our league. It's more than just the North
American League and we're definitely seeing that now. And the
imports are great. We've met a lot I know, ran
in with yourself with you meet a lot of good imports,

(23:01):
a lot of good people. And Casper, I mean we've
signed over the last couple of weeks. In the post
games and stuff, the personality and around the team, around
the Knights, in the room, he's a big infectionous person
in the guys love them in the room. You could
tell all their social media's at the Knight's posts, you

(23:22):
always see Casper Halton in the middle of it with
the guys, and he looks like an absolute beauty. So
it's good to see the success. And he did what
he had to do last night, and I thought that
it was well deserving for sure.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
Gonna have three imports next season in the CHL, Gonna
change things a little bit there. I did right down
one statistic. Casper Halton in the OHL Championship nine goals
and twenty eight shots, a thirty two percent shooting percentage
for the San Jose Sharks twenty twenty three second rounder.
So I couldn't ask for much more of a Finals
from Casper Halton. And then Colin, quickly we get to

(23:55):
the play at the end of the second that was
a little bit controversial. Took some time to figgure it out.
But Sam O'Reilly and Luke Torrance kind of run into
each other there behind the play. Luke Torrance, you know,
the Oshawa hero there, the hometown boy in his over
age year, stayed down for for quite a while. It
took the refs a little bit to figure out what

(24:15):
was going on, and then they finally called for a
five review. Then they took the five off. There was
no penalty that Sam O'Reilly came out of the box.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
I know.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
The Oshawa side, you know, was was pretty animated and
upset about you know how that whole situation unfolded with
it taking the referees a long time to review it. Colin,
what did you see on that play? And obviously it
led to a Beckett Seneca goal right before the end
of the period, so it did sort of wake up
the Oshawa generals to make a three two at the

(24:45):
end of the period. But what was your thought on
the whole sequence.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
I thought it I didn't think it was a hockey play,
like I said, I thought it was like a left
fielder in center fielder accidentally running into each other the
pop up I got it, you got it, I got it,
you got it, and then run into each other. It
felt like it was like you said, that was behind
the play. That's how I don't think there was any
intent to it at all. I think it was the
right call. I think that I I can see why

(25:08):
Osh was frustrated. They're an elimination game or backsdrop against
the wall. They want every call they can get, and
maybe you do a little bit of a cell. But
I don't think and I'm not saying that was a
dive at all. It wasn't. It was an accidental. It
was like I said, it was like a left fielder
in or center fielder going up to get a pop up,
I got it, you got it in between and they
run into each other. It was more when you see

(25:28):
the play from O'Reilly, there's perspective it's almost like Torrents
or Torrents ran into him and it's like and it's
you can't even mention, like you know, like it was
a weird hit. I just think that accidental.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
I've never seen bread malone that animated.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
Though one hundred percent, and like I mentioned, he should
be in their backstrip against the wall. He's trying to
get a call, he's trying to get a review, and
that's probably how the review sparked. Veteran veteran linesman, so
that's probably why too, Right, when you talk to the officials,
you probably hate. So it's probably not just the referees
that made that decision to go to the review. Probably
the line has been involved as well to go to

(26:04):
the review. And I just think that when I watched
The hit Man, it looked like it wasn't and that
it looked like it was an accidental hit. Like I'd
always love to do this if the hit was the
other way around, and obviously this is a lot and
round two. If the hit was the other way around,
where if it was being reviewed for Torrance, if O'Riley

(26:26):
went down hurt, there wouldn't have been a review because
if Oriley, if I think, if Torrance wasn't hurt, there
wouldn't have been a review. That's why he went. I
think goes off, he comes back. I think that if
Torrance didn't get hurt, there wouldn't have There wouldn't have
been a review. If O'Riley got hurt on the plane,
Torrance didn't there would be a review from the opposite perspective.
That's why I think that's how I thought the hit

(26:47):
was called. I thought that it was that close.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Well, the OHL always says that if a player is
injured and they don't want to take player safety into
account here, that they always to view it for a
five and then they can reduce it to either a
two or nothing one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
And I think that's why they looked at it. And
when you get an injury, you have to look at
the play. I mean, there was a knee ran through
Nick Lartis's knee, wasn't a penalty on the ice, but
that it would turn out to be two games if
it was the other way around, I don't. I'm sure
I already did hear. I'm sure there would be a

(27:19):
lot of I'm sure it would be out in the
local newspaper. So I just think that the way the
game was, I didn't think it was any English, especially
after we just said the game before that Seneca or
Game three, that Seneca's wasn't enough to get suspended, and
that was clear to the knee Gibson too right. I
think Gibson was nothing that we talked about and we
said that was and we said that was nothing that

(27:40):
shouldn't even me a review. So I think it's even
from our perspective, I don't think it was bias at all.
I think we'd said it both ways. I don't think
I think that's I don't think we can get more
honest about it, like I don't when Reese talked about
it too like, I think we all agreed that maybe
a game, but I don't think it was anything like
I said, maybe give them a two maybe give me
a two minute penalty, but I don't. I didn't see

(28:03):
enough on it in the elimination game of the OHL Finals.
I did not see enough on that. I I wish
I could see it differently for your Osawa's fans perspective.
I apologize, but I uh, I don't think it was
anything malicious to it at all.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Seneca scores his fourteenth right before the end of the period.
After that to get the Oshawa some life going into
the third period down three to two, I did write
down a little couple of notes here. In the third
Oshawa was applying a ton of pressure in the first
half of that period. You could tell the urgency that
they had. Oliver Bonk had a couple of big blocks,
including one up high near the neck area where his
helmet came off. He put it back on touch the

(28:40):
pud got a penalty because he didn't put the strap on,
but it was just the heat of the moment play.
And Oliver Bank continues to show that he was really
elevated his defensive game, and he's one of the big
reasons why the stuff on the score sheet doesn't show
why he's been so valuable for them.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
But Oshawa and that.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
First half of that first or that third period were
just relentlessly applying the pressure.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
You score a goal at the end of the period,
you go into the room. If you're Brad and Malone,
it's raw, raw, the guys are ready to go. You
got to make sure you give the speech. You got
to give the speech and I and they definitely did that.
They executed. This didn't get the result, but they executed.
And like you said, there's no fault to the Osawad generals.
I know they've played a really good road game last night,
Like that was a really good road game. They probably

(29:23):
win that game six to one in November December. That's
how good they were. I thought that it was definitely
one of those raw, raw speeches, and you got to
give them the speech. And Oliver Bonk, I mean, yeah,
it's a tough one, right. You don't get the strap on.
It's like when I put my dress pants on and
forget my belt. It felt like it looked like a
human element there. But I thought that the way Oliver

(29:46):
Bonk's played in the postseason. I know Joel vanderlind has
spoken on it as well. Where how good Oliver Bonk
has been this postseason has been incredible defensively and they
needed the defensive specialists. I mean they London runs their
top guy more than anybody. They're running Dickinson, they're running Bunk,
they're running Wellie, they're running Bristavits. They're running those guys

(30:06):
through the ringer. And I think that when you give
those guys the opportunity, and that's why you go to London,
you pay your dues and you play a big role
and then you get to be able to play a
big role at the end of your career and be
the guy. And with Bonk, I mean he had every
offensive he has every offensive gift in the world, but
being able to play good defensively like he has has
been the reason why he's gonna play in Philadelphia next

(30:26):
year in the National Hockey you not even playing the
HL because he's been that good. I'm very impressed with
to Oliver Bank.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Casper Halton and run it off the post for the
hat trick. Didn't get the hat trick tonight, but we
haven't heard the end of Casper Halton. And then we
talked about it way earlier in the show about some
big says by Jacob Osterer being able to keep them innute.
But then with the four forty two left in regulation,
Montgomery drove drove to the net, cutting in the zone
and got a shot off. Ostro made the same, but

(30:53):
then land and Sim picked up the rebound to close
it out there with the four to two.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
Had a big celebration.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
After that, and obviously Land and sim final game in
junior hockey at the OHL level being able to score
there was big and Oshawa pulled the goalie with four
thirty one left in regulation needing two goals, and it
led to Easton Cowen putting some emphasis on his empty
net goal and a big celebration at center ice with
the arrow through the heart I guess with three forty

(31:22):
two left, five to two game. Oshawa even had a
delayed penalty late in the game where they could have
been on the power play, and they just played keep
away just to get the puck to keep the pocket
and then get it to zero zeros. But what did
you think of the ending of that game with the
sim I guess insurance goal and then Cowen with the
empty net and a couple of big celebrations.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Into away from Jacob Ouscer making the save of the
year on Land and Zan game of inches first down
or fourth down stop. That's how close it was. It
felt like they should did the Philly touch push to
get that to get that pocket in the net past Auster.
I thought that the celebrations are what they were. I mean,
you're playing for emotions. You just you realize you win

(32:00):
the j Ross Robertson, you realize you won the Ohl,
you're the best head of your league. And when you
realize that, that's a cool feeling. So I have nothing
against it. I mean a if Oshwall, why it would
be the exact same thing the opposite side they did
in the earlier series hundred percent. Yeah, yeah, well yeah,
I saw that one in person being told one more
period ago and then you're done anyway. But I think

(32:23):
that I think that with the way the celebrations are,
it's the way it goes. Part of the game. Winners win,
losers lose, and I think it's you gotta say it
that way when you win a game, when you win
a bit wait, when you win a big game like that,
you have every every right to celebrate. Don't lose, don't lose. Hey,
like and as I wear in Ohio State shirt as

(32:45):
we saw the game, don't lose, don't lose, And I
think that, yeah, it is what it is. I think
it's one of the best parts when you get to
watch the celebration like that, when you see the emotions,
like you see the bench, you see Dale Hunter krack
a smile and wasn't with a tablet or a referee sarcastically.
I think that's a great I think that's great. I

(33:06):
just thought that. I think emotions, it's part of the game.
You have good emotions, you have over emotions, you have
poor emotions. I mean, hey, you watch the game on
Thursday night, the late after the Ohl game. You watch
the Winnipeg game. You see Mark Shifley all night long
getting into referees. Emotions are in the game, man, they're
facing elimination like it's part of the game. And that's
the beauty of our sport. That's the best part man,

(33:27):
about the finals, when you see the emotions come out
of these kids. They're working hard. These guys, some of
these guys from London and Oshawa. Ten years from now,
five years from now, twenty years from now, heck will
move back to their junior area. Dan Schrvette coaching the
local hockey team in London, Random Pross coaching the Nationals.

(33:49):
They played for the Knights. You're gonna see that. You're
gonna go back and you're gonna see local players on
the police force in their community. You're gonna see them
working in the community that don't are. I mean, a
lot of people aren't fortunate enough to make the NHL
or played pro hockey. So they're gonna have jobs. They're
gonna be focused on the local economy in the community
they played junior hockey. They're gonna raise a family there
and that's pretty cool, and yeah, you have lifelong memories.

(34:13):
Heck I uh, I look at my Oba jacket right now.
From winning. I talk to my buddies all the time
from that team. We talked every day about winning and stuff.
How cool that was When you win. It's such a
cool feeling and you can't wait to go back and
I and I think that it is what it is like.
I think the emotions is part of it. It's it
was so cool to see that. You know, Easton cowen Man,

(34:34):
he came up as a rookie playing in Kamocha COVID
year and he gets he plays a little bit in
the first round when they lost a kitchener. He plays,
He's hard on the fore chack Man. He was a
dog and he really put like to see him be
the guy and hit the dagger shot like that with
the uh with the empty netter. I thought that was

(34:56):
I thought he was right on Q. I think. But
that guy's brought into the league in general, not just
the Knights. The attention he's brought for us to talk about.
I mean, hey, Brandon, shout to you on the broadcast
about your leaf question right like what he's brought into
the table for us as media, for fans. When he's

(35:17):
brought into the table. Views wise has been incredible for
the league. So I think all the attention on the
celebration and stuff is what it is. I like I said,
I always enjoy that even if my team loses. I mean,
it sucks in the moment, but when the team wins,
it's so cool to see the emotion of winning a
championship is it's so damn hard. It's so hard. Why
you don't touch the cup without winning it? Too much respect?

(35:39):
Too much respect? And I think that it was pretty cool.
I really enjoyed that as part of their goal, right,
London set a goal at the end of the year.
Then the standard was the Meme Cup. They accomplished the
biggest thing before the mem Cup and you heard it.
You'll hear in the post game. Wait when you hear
them talk about the mem Cup, Like when you hear
them talk about wing the Jay Ross and it's like, well,

(36:01):
it's not done yet, you know, Like it feels like
they're destined for the mem Cup. That's why they're back.
I think that's why Easton Cowen's back, Casper Halton is back.
I don't think San Jose sends Casper Halton back to
London Knights. I know it was a Barracuda, but I
don't think they send him out of their system like
that if it's not for them being a Memorial Cup contender.
I don't why would you. You're not gonna send him

(36:21):
the worst team in the league, right like you're gonna
send them back to because he's London And I think
that that's why he came back. And I think it's
a really good decision.

Speaker 1 (36:32):
Six sixteen and one in the playoffs, just an incredible run.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
Best of all time. The ohl for the London Knights. Sorry,
the five team was sixteen and two. Fifteen, No sixteen
was six or sixteen and two too, so both years
were sixteen and two. This is the best playoff run by.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
The Knights, and that says a lot because they've had
amazing teams over the last well three decades.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
It would be fun, man, if we could talk about
what London Knights we had to talk about ten years
from now from this team and be like, man, how
good was that team? Like the five team might do
it all the time when they won with Corey Perry
and all those guys, and how close it was to
having Rick Nash on that team with the lockout, and
you think about all those guys, right that have played

(37:15):
in London, all those teams, I mean, Martin k Chuck
devorak Line in sixteen, and you think about this team,
how many guys are we gonna sit back? And I
think it's the best part of it being able to
come to the Ohl. Man. When we see these guys
that are coming into the next level, they go to
the next level in ten to fifteen years from now, Man,
we're gonna be like, remember when we would have to
cover Cow and now he's borderline hall of fame NHL

(37:38):
are I don't want to say Hall of Fame because
that's a lot of pressure. Denver Barkey, Oliver Brong, Sam Dickinson,
Casper Halton and like, how many of these guys stars? Yeah,
Like how many of these guys are gonna be the
All Star Game, like London Knights, Like it's gonna be
really cool to see. I think that's the best part
of it, being able to come to the Ohl. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:53):
Thirteen NHL prospects on this year's team, A very special
group from top to bottom. Quickly before we get to
the the on ice celebration interviews. Three stars Casper Halton
in first Star two goals, samu ol'riilly a gold and assist,
and then Austin Elliott thirty two of thirty four. Not
to be understated, Austin Elliott forty eight and two this
OHL season. Just an incredible zillion fifty And technically he

(38:16):
was fifty one and two if you count the three
wins that he had out in the WHL before he
was placed on waivers. So just a just an incredible
run by Austin Elliott that doesn't get talked about enough
for you know, he losing two games through you know,
an entire regular season plus a full four rounds of playoffs.

Speaker 3 (38:35):
Yeah, how did nobody pick him up in the WHL?
Bro waiver claim no picks? Like, I know what I know.
We talked about it on last show about like he
doesn't even make it to the OHL if the oas
don't count his goalies, he doesn't even leave Saskatan. But
how does like Madison hat not pick him up? Spoken
like teams in the finals like Austin Elliott and I

(38:57):
mean their damn gay goalies go to the finals. Elliot's
better in my opinion watching him. I know, stats are
what they are and that favorites Elliott with the wins
and say angles against But I just think that, like,
how how how on earth does he make it over here? WHL?
I mean, what happened? I would love to talk to
a WHL official and be like, how how do you

(39:20):
let this guy go? You had him for a waiver,
claim man a fifteenth round pick to Barry.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
Barry could have used him in the playoffs. London's done
this two years in a row. Lookal with Michael Simpson
last year?

Speaker 3 (39:31):
Yeah, yeah, you give up a little bit more. But
it was kind of you know, like thee and he
has leverage on that move too, right, It's like I
only want to go to London and you go to London.
We know how that goes.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
When he was last night, so technically won three in
a row if you count him being in attendance yesterday.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
How cool was that? It was really cool to see
alumni see h mchu and it's it was cool. I
got I turned on Mike Stubbs last night voice a
lot of nights, and it was so cool to be
able to watch Mike and listen to Mike. As a kid,
I listened to every game of Mike Stubbs and hearing
seeing the post game with Jim van Horn going through
their ringer down at ice level and hearing mce hearing
mceuue interviewed, I love Stubbs, He's the man. That was

(40:06):
pretty good. Mike is the man. He's a beauty. Ultimate
professionalism in London with Stubbs and Van Horn. Those guys
are great. Gramar as well are in game host does
a really good job there. The building was great. But no,
it was cool seeing that in the post game or
hearing that in the post game last night, and seeing
the alumni there, like obviously Brace Montgomery, there was the family,

(40:27):
Jackson Edward, back, Isaiah George, Man, the list goes on.
They had like eight guys back.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
Jackson Edward, Yep, yeah, there was a couple more, Michael
Simpson obviously, m yeah, McHugh. Yeah, there was a couple
more too that I'm missing, But they had them all
from that core and that's that's big that those guys
wanted to come back and support these guys that were
still there one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
Man, that's cool. I mean, hey, London's a great spot
and not dra go back to where I said, like
there's any people that come back to raise a family
in London. And look of the players that are coming
back to watch their old teammates playing in the NHL Finals, right,
those are people that are probably gonna run, have a
family and spend theirs in London, Ontario. London is a
great spot. Other than driving, I mean go there all
the time, just up the road. I mean grew up there.
It's it's a crappy drive in the summer with all

(41:09):
the construction. I mean it's a construction site the whole
city downtown. But great spot and it's gonna be cool
to see a lot of family come back and raise
family's there in the community of London because it's a
great city to grow up in. London.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
Knight's off the Memorial Cup. Let's hear their reaction after
winning the Jay Russ Robertson Cup last night on the ice.
We're gonna start with Associate General Manager for the London Nights,
Rob Simpson and his thoughts on the team making it
this far there with London Night's system. GM Rob Simpson, Rob,
this feeling ever get old? You've done this a lot
of times in your career with the Knights. You know,

(41:43):
do any of them ever kind of feel old with.

Speaker 3 (41:46):
This never feels old. Winning.

Speaker 4 (41:48):
It's, you know, a tremendous opportunity when you have a
chance to win, and when you do, you just feel
fortunate and blessed to be around the group of people
that you're with every day and the players and the
staff and everything.

Speaker 3 (41:59):
It's it never gets We.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Talked coming into the series about you knew that this
Oshawa team was going to be different than last year.

Speaker 3 (42:05):
They gave you guys a run.

Speaker 1 (42:06):
There were points and stretches in the in the series,
they won the first game from you guys, and then
you were able to win four straight. Talk about how
different it was this year around, and knowing that the
other team was hungry over there.

Speaker 4 (42:18):
Yeah, you knew they wanted to come back and kind
of atone for last season and going out four straight.
And you know, the series was five games, but it
could have been either way. It could easily went seven.
I think we had some timely goaltending from Austin and
we had some bounces go our way, and you know,
obviously Casper Halton and gets hot at the right time
and just started scoring at will. So it's pretty special.

(42:39):
And you know what they have a really great team,
you know, over on their side. I think any team
both of us could have went to the Memorial Cup
there based on you know, the rosters and how we played.

Speaker 1 (42:49):
Where did you guys find Casper Halton and in the
import draft? I mean, I'm sure obviously being a San
Jose Shark second rounder, but what did you guys see
in him?

Speaker 3 (42:55):
And why did you think.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
That he was going to be such a dynamic player
at this level to bring him into this this in
this culture.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
Well, he always need goal scoring, he always need guys
that could put the puck in the net. And he
was ranked, you know, back then, really high in that
upcoming draft. And he's a big power forward that could
just shoot the lights out of the puck and you know,
right handed as well, which sets up a lot of
options on your power play and and you know a
lot of times you want a couple those guys with
your We like those elite passers and playmakers at skaters.

Speaker 3 (43:24):
So yeah, we just saw so much upside there.

Speaker 4 (43:26):
But he's put in a lot of work to get
where he's at, and you know it's amazing to see
him over here with his whole family's over here, right
now from Finland, so it's a pretty special moment for him.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
I remember talking to you last season when you guys
celebrated on Austionawa's ice, and you guys have celebrated a
lot on the road. How good is it to do
this in front of the nine thousand Knights Kingdom here
and do it with all the friends and family and attendance.
I mean, I'm sure they're special, but to win it
here in London, how much does that mean to your guys?

Speaker 4 (43:51):
It's huge, Our fans are They're amazing. You know, even
at the end there when we scored the empty netter
and then the whole crowd starts chanting, you know, go London,
go like this is things that these players and us
we'll remember forever. So we're really fortunate that we have this.
You know, the community support as we do, and that's
why we always want to say thank you for all
they do.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
And lastly, a lot of this core is gonna graduate
on to do great things at pro hockey. You talk
about the BNKX, the Cowens, Barkie being able to come
back and play in this series. You know, for the
next group of London Nights that are gonna come through.
Just how important, how valuable is this core gonna be
for you guys to show the new guys that come
in for the next era about you know, what to
expect from being a London Night.

Speaker 4 (44:30):
I think it's it's huge, It's monumental. I mean, I think,
like these guys see how hard it is and how
much you have to sacrifice. I mean, all these guys
out here, you know, they played defense, they played the
right way, they listened to the coaches, you know, but
collectively as a team, you have to play your hard out.
You have to sometimes play through pain, and you have

(44:51):
to do a lot of things to win. And it's
it's good for our younger players to be able to
see what sacrifices you have to make and you know,
not only at the rank, but off the rink how
much you have.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
To do as well too.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
There was assistant GM, but the London Knight's Rob Simpson Colin.
We're gonna get the other interviews here quickly. Just quick
thoughts on what you what you thought that he had
to say.

Speaker 3 (45:10):
Right on cue with the professionals guys going on to
play professional brand, That's a good question. I think that
Rob's are great Rob's so good. We talked about it
off air during the interview that Rob, Rob just gets it,
I mean, and we talked about it before off air
last night. We were talking about how this guy, how
he if he wants any GM job in the entire

(45:31):
hockey that he can go out and get it on
wherever he wants to go. He'd probably be a top
five GM in the league right now, not even like
being an assistant. That's how good he is. I I
was the interview. I mean, first class is always from
Rob just gets hockey. Just see, it's a good message

(45:51):
for the younger guys, right. You see the older guys
coming in, You see them ticking, you see them pushing
the pace, you see them the way they want to play, right,
It's a good message for them. It's a good message,
and that's why I loved it. It's a culture builder.
Young guys kid hungry to do this again. Look what
rrion veterans did. They were hungry to do this again.
They accomplished that did they accomplish an them cup? We'll see.
That's their goal and I can't wait to see it.

(46:14):
I cannot wait to see what this team can overcome.
And I think it's the journey of this team's been
so fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
Let's get to Captain Denver Barkie, who did play in
this game calling. It's something that we didn't really mention there.
He was able to play, started on the fourth line,
took warm ups, looked pretty good, took about four or
five shifts in that first period there, ended up getting
a shift with the third line. But a guy that
hasn't played us since late February after getting that unfortunate
leg injury in Game one against Kitchener in the West Finals.

(46:41):
So it was nice see Denver Barkie back on the ice.
Let's hear what he has to say and i'll get
your reaction to it here with London Night's Captain Denver Barkie,
Denver being able to dress tonight after everything you've been through,
after you know, the tough play against Kitchener in Game
one of the West Final, how much did it mean
to you to be dressed tonight, help the guys on
the bench get a couple of shifts and experience this
whole in front of the home crowd.

Speaker 3 (47:01):
It meant everything.

Speaker 5 (47:02):
You know, these guys gave me a chance to come back,
and you know, it was on home ice, and I
couldn't say no. I was excited and you know, just
grateful that these guys rallied around me when I when
I went down with an injury and everyone raised their games,
guys stepped up. Just super proud of everyone.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
For yourself personally, you know, off the ice, being able
to help motivate this group when you were still trying
to rehab and get back yourself. You know, how did
you kind of go through this process of you know,
still coming in with a positive attitude and making sure
the guys were focused and ready to go and go
sixteen to one in the playoffs.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
Yeah, I think we had a lot of guys, a
lot of different leaders, the other guys that you know,
I had all my trust in to lead this team.
And when I went down, I wasn't worried. I just
want to control what I control. Show up to the
rink every day, show these guys that you know, I'm
working my ass off to get back for them, and
they did their job. They gave me a chance to
come back, and you know, just super grateful and it
was super super surreal experience and just playing the day

(47:54):
and just being with the guys and winning was awesome.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
Being able to win back to back, especially being able
to win in front of your home out as special.
Being able to do it with this core that you've
kind of grown up with as a young kid. Now
you know, into your fourth year in the OHL and
doing it with a fellow Flyers prospect and all over Bonca.
You know, talk about how special this group is as
a lot of you guys are going to be graduating
on to do bigger and better things in the pros,

(48:17):
and how much you know, you guys are going to
be you know, bands of brothers for a long time.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
Yeah, it's special.

Speaker 5 (48:22):
We came in here at sixteen and you know, we
meet all over Easton. We formed a type bond and
we've we built around this for every year and last
year you know, we won but came up short in
the mem Cup, so to give ourselves another shot at
it this year at the Memorial Cup. We're excited and
you know, growing up with these guys, seeing how far
they've come, seeing you know them go first round the NHL.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
Draft, all that stuff. It's it's been super cool to
be a part of.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
And you guys have played a lot of hockey the
last three years, we OHLD championship last three years, you know,
a lot of miles. You guys have played a lot
of games, you know, well prepared and maybe some unfinished
business you said posting that memorial Cup. But you know,
for you person, how much has this whole experience meant
to your journey and your growth as not only a
hockey player but as a young man.

Speaker 5 (49:06):
Yeah, you know, this game's taught me a lot ever
since I was a young kid. But I think, you
know a lot of credit to this coaching staff and
staff and you know, building this team and building us
players to you know, fit certain roles and just developing
us ever since we were sixteen. You know, these guys
have have made it hard, but you know we've given
back to them and we've worked their hardest. So yeah,

(49:27):
like I said, it's just really cool to share this
moment with everyone. You know I've spent time with and
you know, spent hours in the gym on the ice
working with them.

Speaker 1 (49:35):
And then last question for you, you know, as far
as setting the standard for the next group of London
Nights as the captain, having your your barqiees buds initiative,
and you know, being a Humanitarian of the Year in
the OHL. I'm sure you take great pride in that,
but then also leaving an example for the next crop
of London night players and as well a lasting impression
on the young people that you know are in this

(49:55):
London community.

Speaker 5 (49:56):
Yeah, I know, it's it's been great. They've fans have
treated me so well, and I keep on saying that
was the reason why I started up Arqui's buds. You know,
I want to get back because this this you know,
fan base has rallied around me and all my teammates
all four years in London, so you know, to to
win the Humanitarian Award obviously a huge honor and I
was just happy to be able to get back to
this community. They've been been so good to us.

Speaker 1 (50:18):
There was London Knight's captain and Philadelphia Flyers prospect denver
Barkie Colin. I know what meant law for him to
be able to dress yesterday, although you know, on the
fourth line and not playing a lot, but being on
the bench being with the guys just you know, what
did you think of what he had to say? And
and obviously you know, as great of a person he
is on the ice, he's just as great of a
person off the ice in the community with winning the

(50:38):
Humanitarian Award this season.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
He's huge. He's huge off the ice. His presence in London.
He's so good to the people to go to their
games and they can't go to their games. He's he's
in the community. I see it personally with my girlfriend's work.
He's he's there. Dev Barki, he's a great person. He's
the type of person you root for to have success.
Such a good person. I like, smart, like you're very educated.

(51:04):
When you get to talk to Denver Barky for those
who have I mean, the first thing that comes, you
can tell he's positive, but you can tell he's a
smart kid, very educated kid. Cool to see, uh that
core him and him. Cowen and Bonk they've gotten to
see a lot of hockey. Three finals in their four years,
two championships in their four years. It's gonna be weird

(51:24):
seeing Ohl finals without Oliver Bonk, Easton Cowen and Denver Barki.
And even if it is a lot of nights, it's
gonna be weird seeing a lot of Knights. That's gonna
be an adjustment period for fans not to see those
three guys in the lineup next season and possibly Sam
Dickinson at Casper Halton for sure. That's gonna be weird
to not see those guys in the lineups. I mean,
those guys have been there forever. They've put in a

(51:45):
lot of miles for that team, They've set the standard
for that team, and I mean they're great role models
for their teammates and their younger teammates, like as Rob
Simpson mentioned, and ay I love to co quote from
Denver about going to the Men Cup right last year
was a south or Taste twenty one point six, twenty
one point six seconds away from who knows right possibly

(52:06):
going to o t more than likely getting an opportunity
to win. They were so close, and it's I can't
wait to see them in game one, Game one. I
hope they come out with momentum, but not overboard, because
sometimes you see it you want it to overboard, where
you take penalties and you run around. I don't think
this is a London team coach by a great coaching,

(52:27):
Dale Hunter. I don't think that's a London team we're
gonna see, But I cannot wait to see their performance
to the mem Cup. I think you're gonna be hungry.
I think you're gonna be hungry, and I think there's
a lot of this Memorial Cup. Man. Usually every year
you can pick what team's gonna be dead last. But
this year's Men Cup, it's hard to predict. Madison Hat
with the stars they have monked in, with the veterans

(52:49):
that they have and the young players that they have
coming up in the draft. Ramuski as a coach going
to the finals like, it's gonna be a fun Memorial Cup.
I can't wait to watch, you know. Obviously, the series
haven't done yet. Medicine Hat and Uh Spoken Spoke can
down three to one to Medicine Hat right now in
the series as they go tonight on Friday evening in Spokane.

(53:09):
But I think that London has every opportunity. I think
they should be the favorites going in and I hope
they come out as a favorites. That means with a
mem Cup, every Ohl fan should be cheering for London
right now in the mem Cup. Obviously, Kitchen, your winter
might to differing gwealth. For that matter, I won't sound
any Midwest team, but you should be cheering for lot
of nights to win the memcalp if you want it
back in the OHL two straight years. I was actually thinking, man,

(53:31):
remember the Ohl couldn't win the Memorial Cup. Felt like
there was like a three four year span where they
wouldn't win them Cup. It'd be nice to go back
to back. It'd be really cool to go back to
back and to get it done. So I can't wait
to see what happens. I'm very excited to see what
they can do at the Memorial Cup. But Denver Barky,
great person, great name to I remember when he got drafted.
I was pumped because Denver with up being a Broncos fan.

(53:54):
I was pumped dB Denver Broncos his initials, I thinking
out of you a Bronco fan.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
But London, London's the only team that has a chance
to go through that experience again yes last season. So
they've got the experience and the the knowing of what
it's going to take to get to that final and
then eventually get over them at this time not playing
sag and off for they had beat him in the
playoffs and beat him in the round robin meantal loss
to them in the in the finals. So we'll see
where we're Lennon goes from there, Let's get to Sam
Dickinson OHL Defenseman of the Year as well as now

(54:24):
all time leading defenseman point getter for the London Knights franchise.

Speaker 3 (54:29):
So here's what he had to.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Say following back to back OHL championships.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
Here with nice defenseman Sam Dickinson.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
Sam, three years in the league, Western Conference champion, your
first year, back to back OHL championship, last two years.
It's been quite the ride so far in your your
junior hockey career.

Speaker 3 (54:43):
If you had a.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
Chance to reflect on how special this is, yeah, I.

Speaker 6 (54:47):
Mean, it's it really it is hard to put into words.
You know, coming in it made it feel like it
was it was normally got here, but loves over the years,
I've become become more grateful for the opportunities that we've
had as the team and the teams that we've put together.
You know, there really is something special here in London,
and especially over these last couple of years.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
Talked to you a few times about, you know, looking
forward to San Jose, but you were you guys were
all bought in, you guys all had NHL affiliation, but
you talked about winning in London, didn't really want to
talk about anything to go to do with the future.
So just how important was that and how much did
that reflect through the room with the top guys like
Cowen and Barkie and yourself, you know, knowing that you
still had some unfinished business here in London.

Speaker 6 (55:23):
Yeah, you know, to be honest, I was priority number one.

Speaker 3 (55:26):
You know.

Speaker 6 (55:26):
We were all here for a reason, you know, to
develop his players and to get better and had to
win a championship coming off last year and even the
year before with you know, the guys who have been
around for two years now. You know, it's always been
you know, to get back to this point and you know,
to get where we're going next.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
And I got to ask you both being baby shark
prospects with with Casper Halton and how much are you
looking forward to possibly playing with him in the future
and knowing that he's got that type of shot and
being able to you know, reminisce on those times maybe
fee in the future.

Speaker 6 (55:53):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I could be more grateful
to have a guy like that to you know, go
on to the next chapter with and you know he's
obviously gonna do unbelievab things, you know, for the Sharks
organization and yeah, I mean we're we're both so excited
to be part of, you know, the future that's being
built there.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
Being able to do it in friend of Knight's Kingdom,
I know that meant a lot to you in the
last post game that you guys have talked about.

Speaker 3 (56:12):
Now that you've been able to do it and win
this at home.

Speaker 1 (56:15):
The other trophies are great, and any other championships are
special in their own right, but being able to win
it in front of this crowd. Can you even put
into words what that means to you?

Speaker 3 (56:22):
Guys?

Speaker 6 (56:23):
It really is hard to I mean, you know this,
this fan base in the city has given not only
myself but this whole team so much, so, you know,
to be able to give them a win here on
home ice just makes it that much more special.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
And lastly, you know, some of the guys graduating on,
you know, a lot of the core you know, moving
on to do great things in the future. You know,
what's the message to those younger guys that are coming
in now that you've set the standard of what it's
to be a London night in the championship pedigree for
those guys to carry your legacy on.

Speaker 6 (56:47):
Yeah, obviously, you know, it takes a lot of hard work,
you know, you know, just come in where all London
nice years and get to be on a team like this,
you know, it takes hard work. It takes a lot
of things. And you know, you listen to Dale and
what they've got for you, you know, chances are you're
gonna you're gonna end up in a pretty good spot
personally and as a team.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
There was Sam Dickinson, Sam Jose, Sharks first rounder, him
and Casper Halton and you know, gonna be Sharks sooner
rather than later together. And I made sure to ask
him about that, about how nice it's gonna be to
have his London Night's teammate with him up the out
there in California in the in the the coming years.
But just an incredible season for Sam Dickinson, his third
year in the league, third OHL champ, third o HL

(57:27):
Finals appearance, two championships under his belt. You know, one
of the best defensemen as far as pedigree that we've
seen come through the league.

Speaker 3 (57:35):
With his accolades he's been able to accomplish since his
draft here, his draft here, man, even in his draft here,
he was so good. He's my favorite player in the draft.
I had him going one. I I really liked his draft.
He he's so physically gifted. I mean, he's one of
those guys that he was meant to be a London

(57:58):
Knight and Evan Bouchard. You look at the past defenseman
that they've had, right Bouchard and Surevett in what they've
had in their program. Sam Dickinson fits that mold of
a lot of night the best players sometimes playing in London,
and I think that's what happened with Dickinson. I think
with him there man, his he he's destined to have

(58:22):
such a good career, Like he's destined to be a
fifties sixty point guy minimum in the National Hockey League.
He's destined to be that. He I'm I'm a big
fan of Sam Dickinson. Like I said, I had him
going one in his draft year. I know that sounds crazy,
but looking back at it, when you look at him,

(58:44):
how can you not take that guy first? Overall, he's
a star defenseman. He does everything for a team that wins,
and he all he's done is winning the Ontario Hockey
League Finals his first year, back to back championships, them
Cup appearances, second and third, that's a guy that he's
a winner. We've heard it all, and we've heard it
all series. NHL teams want winners. We've heard Dale Hunters

(59:05):
say that, we've seen Casper Halton and say that. We've
heard all the guys post games say that throughout the series,
throughout the playoffs. I think that this is without a doubt.
I think Sam Dickinson is a star in the making,
and it's so cool to see them winning at home.
You can tell he's pumped about that winning it at home.
It's nice you can go out to your billets and
have fun with your billets at their house too. After

(59:27):
the game.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
For the rest of the interviews, tune into armsare gm
Sports YouTube channel for all the video interviews as well.
Following the episode being posted today, we'll put all those
on the YouTube channel, specifically off the podcast, but with us.
Said Colin Ward from the Ohl and sixty podcast, Colin,
it's been great to have you on board for the

(59:47):
coverage and the playoffs. You know, we might do something
in the mem Cup, but a lot of things look
forward to going into next season. But I really appreciate
you always given the time to come on and react
to these playoff games and we'll see the London Knights
do going to the Memorial Cup, and you know, it's
it's always a fun time. It sucks that the season ends,
but it's great to be able to cover it all
year long.

Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
Well one hundred percent, it's a great it's another good
year in the INTROI hockeygue Brandon into the heck of
a job. I know in the playoffs a lot of
miles wear and tear mentally physically. I mean it's a lot.
So I'm sure you'll have a couple of a couple
of pops and you get home and uh yeah, thanks
for having me and it's appreciated. I hope we can

(01:00:28):
do something in the mem Cup. Like I said, it's
always fun to talk hockey. It'd be cool. It'd be
cool to do like a watch party or something like
YouTube stream. Who knows we can do, but it'd be
cool to it'd be cool to be able to watch
the watch the games and you know, support the Interio
Hockey League as we go for another mem Cup opportunity.
And that's why you'll play the game. So thanks for
having me on and I appreciate it. It was a

(01:00:50):
great time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Yeah, we'll definitely be upping our coverage going into next season.
A lot of things that we're trying to innovate here
for the network and trying to get more wrap around
coverage of the leg along with the Ohl and sixty
podcast with Colin Ward and Riese Demni here on the
network going forward. So again, London Knights take this one
five to two over the Oshawa Generals in Game five
of the OHL Championship back to back Jay Ross Robertson

(01:01:11):
Cup recipients, and in this rematch of the OHL Championship,
with the Oshawa Generals being back to back Bobby or trophies,
London Knights will go on to Ramuski, as Colin mentioned,
to go square off to some unfinished business and hopefully
win the Memorial Cup for another time in their storied
franchisees history. So again, thank you to those who listened

(01:01:32):
today in your favorite on demand audio platform. Thank you
to Assistant GM Rob Simpson, Easton count Or Denver Barkie
and Sam Dickinson for taking the time to talk with
us after they win the Jay Ross Robertson Cup on
home ice in front of over nine thousand, I can
of the life place. So for Colin Ward, my name
is Brandon Puto. Enjoy the Memorial Cup. We're back with
you for a couple more episodes. Four we wrap up

(01:01:53):
for the end of the season, but until then, this
has been another episode of OHL overtime right here on
the arm Chair GM Sports Network. We'll talk to you
again very soon.

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London Knights win back-to-back OHL Championships - Game 5 Recap: Oshawa 2 London 5 - OHL Overtime

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}London Knights win back-to-back OHL Championships - Game 5 Recap: Oshawa 2 London 5 - OHL Overtime